Peacekeeper: The Lawyer, not the Revolver (Series: What Lawyers Do)

Surprisingly enough, especially if you’ve never gone through a divorce, attorneys are called upon to be America’s peacekeepers more than the police, the national guard, mother-in-law’s and best friends from work, combined! When it comes to trouble, the rich always get their lawyer involved. Now, you might be thinking, “Well, if I were rich I would pawn all my problems off on a lawyer too!” But, hold back the urge to say this and consider the following.

When someone says, “I’m going to have to talk with my attorney about this.” Doesn’t it just send chills down your spine? There’s a lot of heat packed into that sentence (if you screwed up, it might end up being more than just a grammatical sentence! i.e. a prison sentence). The rich know that it’s always best to prevent problems at the onset, well before anything happens. They have their lawyer look over the situation and tell them, “You’re fine to sign” or “Don’t even think about it, this has ‘con artist’ written all over it.” Having read How to Win Friends and Influence People, they know that the best arguments/fights ever won are the ones never fought. It goes along the same lines as America’s world policing policies, we’re so afraid of losing assets (in this case, reputation, investments, overall dominant presence, etc.) that we go around the world trying to keep small problems from turning into WWIII – although some may argue different. The smart rich are the same, they have their lawyers police their transactions, businesses, etc. so that small problems don’t end up turning into bankruptcy, thereby keeping the peace and prosperity.

Now, how about us Middle-class? How can we utilize the above principle? Let’s take for example your home owner’s insurance or renter’s insurance. Everybody has it, or at least should have it, but the policies aren’t all the same. Suppose you have some antiques, high valued baseball cards, and some first edition books from the nineteenth century. Looking over the policy you see something like this “In the event of a qualified unforeseen, unpreventable disaster or damaging factor, the worth of all the items within the domicile shall be paid to the undersigned…” Luckily, after reading this article, you know that lawyers can keep you out of big troubles by nipping them in the bud. Your attorney reviews it and notes that the “qualified unforeseen, unpreventable” clause is really vague and it probably wouldn’t cover you if there is a flood, fire caused by a neighbor kid, etc. The “worth of all the items” clause depends on the inventory statement you give to the insurers, and with antiques and the other valuables above, they increase in value with time. Your attorney says that it would be better to find a policy that would pay for the replacement of the items, regardless of value. I happen to know a guy who did just that, and all the first edition antique books in his basement were completely ruined during a flood. The insurance company paid to replace these books, which cost into the tens of thousands of dollars per book!

So how else do lawyers keep the peace? Well, let’s get to the meaty stuff. You get pulled over by some power-hungry highway patrol officer. Shining the light in your eyes and seeing your blood shot eyes (actually from being tired and having a cold) as being a sign of being intoxicated, he invites you to “step out of the car.” Being a mile from home, you happened to just take some NyQuil. Your ears are plugged from the sinus infection and your balance is slightly off. Things aren’t looking good. He has you walk the line. Next thing you know you’re in jail on a DUI. Juicy… “Who you gonna call?” Ghost….nope, your lawyer. Don’t say it won’t happen to you. This same exact thing happened to my poor, little old aunt. She’s never had a drink in her life, and there she was sitting in a cell with Lorretta the female rapist.

This sort of thing happens in the movies all the time. Guy gets thrown in jail on bogus charges and the guy knows his rights, so he demands to talk with an attorney – the real peace keeper.

Let’s say you get in an argument with your renter/landlord over the contract. She calls the cops. The officer shows up, but what is he going to do?? Nobody has done anything wrong that he can take of. You call your attorney, he writes a short letter to the renter/landlord and problem resolved. Peace kept, money saved. If it is worth $200 or more, then getting a lawyer involved is worth it. Chances are it won’t take him long to draft the letter.

The list can go on and on, but I hope you see the point. Lawyers are trained in negotiation and dispute resolution, i.e. peacekeeping. This is their job above all, to keep things running smoothly and smooth out the bumps before and after they become mountains.

Comment below if you have any experiences when a lawyer was able to maintain “the peace” for you.